100 years ago in The Record: July 16

Monday, July 16, 1917

David S. Johnston, a third-generation superintendent of the Harmony Mills in Cohoes, commits suicide this afternoon at his Lansingburgh home, The Record reports.

Johnston, a 49 year old widower, lived with his mother at 549 Third Avenue. “He was forced to retire from business some years ago, after which he suffered a nervous breakdown,” our reporter explains, “He improved after that until last winter, when he experienced another breakdown and went to Bond’s sanatorium in Yonkers.”

On June 20 Johnston was released from the sanatorium and “was thought to have fully recovered.” Today, he shoots himself once in the head with a rifle on the second floor of his home. His mother, the only other person in the house at the time, hears the shot and finds Johnston already dead.

Johnston is survived by a son currently serving in the U.S. military. It is unclear whether Hamilton Johnston will continue the family tradition in the Harmony Mills after the war.

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GOP GOSSIP

The Rensselaer County Republican committee is expected to nominate a ticket for this fall’s Troy city elections at a meeting scheduled for July 31, but party leaders may not be able to avoid a primary fight for the mayoral nomination.

GOP leaders are not expected to endorse Fourth Ward alderman George T. Morris for mayor. Morris, a fiscal conservative often at odds with his own caucus in the common council, declared his candidacy last month.

“Whether Alderman George T. Morris will withdraw from the primaries in case the city Republicans decided on an acceptable candidate for mayor is a much debated question,” The Record reports. That’s because Morris has vowed to remain a candidate until primary day in September, regardless of whoever party leaders prefer.

While Morris may not be the most popular Republican in the field, his promise of a primary challenge may be enough to deter other leading Republicans from accepting the party endorsement. Hoping not to discourage any prospects, an anonymous GOP source tells our reporter that “If it is decided to nominate some one else for mayor, Morris will be lined up against a very large majority of the city and county committeemen if he does not withdraw.”

Edward M. Kennedy reportedly is interested in running, while other Republicans are touting County Attorney Herbert F. Roy. One of the most desirable potential candidates, however, has already turned the leadership down.

State senator George B. Wellington “declared himself out of the race the minute his name was suggested,” our reporter writes. Wellington considers it “a farfetched suggestion that he would resign to become a mayoralty candidate.”